TAMPER indicator

[Guest Muhunthan]

I had a series problem. Moven into this house few months back, which had alarm installed. Never thinking about renew the service contract.

Had a Power cut couple of days ago, and the internal siren seems to started after a while. Only way I managed to switch off by unpluging the FUSE. When I had power back, I put the fuse in, the TAMPER indicator came on. Entered my passcode switch off the TAMPER indicator, but the internal sounder came on. Enter the passcode again disable the siren, but TAMPER light comes on again. I am unable to use the system.

Phoned to local alarm company, they told me the callout will e £90.00 and additional £50.00 for the battery. Any one could help me with this. Is this can be sorted by a DIY guy like me.

Thanks all

[morph]

Yes you should be able to sort it out, but you will need to tell us some more information, what panel is it.

Have you got a new battery for it?

Colin.

[Guest Muhunthan]

The control pannel is TS400, and I haven't brought the battery yet. As you might noticed from my earlier update, I am new to this area (eventhogh, I am working in computer field).

Firstly I was phoning around and gettings quotes to sort this problem out, then realished some companies jump on the problems and make mony out of us, so I deceided I will have a go at this.

[morph]

Okay, first thing to do is get a new battery. Look in the yellow pages for your local electrical wholesaler and go and get one from them.

Once you get the battery, post and we can tell you what to check.

Not sure what part of the country you are in, but i would expect to pay between £45 and £65 for the callout and between £20 to £25 for a battery from an alarm installer. You should also change the battery in the outside bell or better still update as this would be cheaper.

Any queries email me.

Colin.

[Guest Muhunthan]

I will get the battery and post for more advise.

I live in East London, and as mentioned on the first update, an alarm installer quote me £90 for callout and £50 for the battery.

[Guest Muhunthan]

Colin

I managed to get the battery from Maplin (Product No XG74R), cost me £17.99.

Could you please tell me what to do next?

Thanks

[Guest oldtimer]

First of all I checked your part No and you have purchased a 12volt 2.1 Amphour

battery.

I take it this is the same as the one fitted?

To change it BE CAREFULL YOUR PANEL HAS A 240 VOLT MAINS SUPPLY.

If you are not sure switch off the main and be advised that your outside sounder

may activate through the duration of the mains being off until your battery is changed.

1.remove the cover of you control panel. The system will alarm via the tamper.

Enter your user code to silence.

2. You will see a red and black cable between the battery and the PCB.

unplug the battery via the push on spade connectors.

3. Check your new battery and locate the red terminal and plug the red lead onto this connection ditto for the black lead & connector.

4. Replace the panel cover and reset the panel.

A point to highlight is that your old battery should not be thrown in the bucket.

I discharge old batteries via a 12v test lamp and take them to my local coucil tip

and place them in the old battery skip.

[Guest Muhunthan]

Thanks to all I have managed to resolve the issue with only £17.99. I am not against paying, but some rubbish smount for the callout fee (£90). This job only took 20 minutes for me, but I think an experienced person will only take 5-10 minutes. More frustration, that the alarm company quote me £35.00 + VAT for a battery which cost me only £17.99.

The only problem I found, that even after I replaced the battery the TAMPER seems to make noise. Then I read the guide from "oldtimer", which said, that the TAMPER will sound once you remove the pannel. So I put the panel back, and all seems a beauty.

all

[Guest Muhunthan]

Pete

I do understand the issues listed by you. I work as a Computer Consultant, and As you may aware we do charge our customers the same way.

But my main concern about some of these ripoff people is, OKAY you charge the same callout charge per hour, which is fixed for regardless of the type of work. How can you justify charging £35.00+VAT for a battery which you can able to buy from a place like MAPLIN for £17.99. This is really put me off.

I always buys computer parts for my customers from internet, which is quite cheaper than places like PCWorld, but I never charges a penny more than what it cost me. My payment comes from the callout/Labour charge to do the work.

[morph]

Hello Muhunthan,

I note what you say about the battery, and I am sure Pete will comment in due course and yes I would agree with you that £35 for a battery is expensive. But i would not agree with on your assumption that companies would supply parts at what it costs them, thats like saying I will buy your new car for Z and give you X for the materials and pay you Y to assemble it and do car companies work like that, of course they dont.

You have to consider that if a company is small 1/2 staff and run from a house then the overheads associated with running the business is considerably less than the company with 10 staff. If we worked on the example you gave then we would only make money on the labour element and not the whole cost of the Job, so in order to cover the companies overheads then this labour cost would need to be increased as the business grows otherwise the labour charge simply wouldn't support business growth. Also some companies dont have work every day( while they get known etc) so if you only make money on the labour charge this would be significantly higher to make ends meet.

Buying a battery from Maplins or another publicly available supplier is okay and most of us point people in that direction, but you also have to consider the origins of the part,its manufacturing process and quality tolerances, when considering its long term value. Most alarm companies tend to stick with one particular make (yuasa or power sonic) neither of which is available from your average supplier and when it is the price may seem higher, the reason we use these batteries is simple there long term reliabillity and value for money is seccond to none and enevitably these cost more. I for one always fit branded batteries and there long term reliabillty has been excellent, there nothing worse than having to go out in the middle of the night to a fault that has been casused by inferior batteries.

Generally what i am saying, is that if you buy the cheapest solution to the problem then this is fine, but you must always consider if the company is charging you a cheap rate and the same for the guy down the road, are they going to be arround in 5 / 10 years to support the installation, because how are they making money to support and grow there business, in simple terms they can't.

Colin.